91��Ʒ

The 91��Ʒ alumni community is doing extraordinary things, and we want to shine a light on our alumni and their work. Through our Alumni Spotlight series we will feature the great work of the 91��Ʒ, MSA, and Layton alumni community.

This month’s Alumni Spotlight features Cassie Tompkins �01 (Photography).

91��Ʒ: Hi Cassie, tell us about yourself!
Cassie Tompkins: I�m an artist and designer in Chicago, where I�ve lived since leaving Milwaukee in 2004. I was a graphic designer at the Art Institute of Chicago for nearly 9 years and have been freelancing full-time since 2019. I also have a side project, the Over All, which encompasses all of my functional work�tie dyed clothing, textiles for the home, and ceramic objects. In addition to my art practice I enjoy gardening and cooking.

91��Ʒ: What mediums do you use in creating your art? Are you exploring a specific area of focus right now?
Cassie: I�m an interdisciplinary artist. Currently I work with textiles, natural and synthetic dyes, screen printing, and ceramics. The work I�ve made this year consists of natural dyes on silk, using rust (iron oxide) as a modifier.

I began working with clay in 2017 after I was introduced to it during my residency at ACRE in Steuben, WI. I started to learn slip casting right before the pandemic and then picked it up again when classes resumed at Lillstreet Art Center in Chicago, where I was an artist-in-residence. I�m interested in creating soft objects and using them as a sort of blank canvas for experimenting with glazes and other decorative techniques.

91��Ʒ: Tell us about your current exhibition in Chicago, Pink Moon.
Cassie: is a two-person exhibition with my friend and ceramist, Peter Ronan. It opened on April 1, 2023 at an artist-run non-profit space, Roman Susan Art Foundation, in the Rogers Park neighborhood in Chicago. We both made work around the ideas associated with spring�reemergence, growth, ritual, and life cycles. I made all new pieces for the show including naturally dyed silk �paintings� and slip casted ceramic orbs that I�m calling Body/objects.

We will be hosting a closing event on April 29, before it closes on April 30, 2023.

91��Ʒ: You’re included in the inaugural exhibition at 91��Ʒ’s Gallery at The Ave, what is the work that you’re showing?
Cassie: I have one textile piece from a series I made in 2020 around the concept of chronic anxiety about climate change, land use, and rising waters. I�m also showing four ceramic slip cast pillows. Each one has a different surface treatment with references imagery that occurs in my textiles work, such as horizons, the color pink, and flora.

91��Ʒ: How did your time at 91��Ʒ help get to where you are now?
Cassie: 91��Ʒ provided a place for me to make mistakes. When I arrived in Milwaukee in 1997 I was only 17, and a first-generation college student from a small farm and factory town in Illinois. I had a lot to learn about both art and life. Failing is intertwined with art-making and 91��Ʒ taught me to accept it as a part of the process and to embrace the unexpected.

91��Ʒ: What other projects are you excited about in the future?
Cassie:I�m beginning a low-residency MFA program this summer at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. I�m looking forward to the focused studio time and expanding my creative community outside of the Midwest.

Keep in touch with Cassie and her work via Instagram and at .
Cassie’s work can also be seen through July 1, 2023, at 91��Ʒ’s .

Want to be featured on 91��Ʒ�s social media and be considered for an Alumni Spotlight?
Submit to our or contact alumni@miad.edu